merimutt - Tumblr blog

[merimutt]

The last screenshot made me laugh so hard I felt compelled to draw over it with my character Blorbo Wizard. Draw your oc like this

my brother just called me late at night, barely able to get two words out because he was laughing so hard. Finally, through the wheezing, he told me “go google the new Gollum game. Please”

So I did. And now I just spent half an hour on the phone nearly dying. We just kept sending eachother pictures of Gollum from the game and LOSING IT all over again. I haven’t laughed this hard in YEARS.

[merimutt]

This is an excellent post that I hope lots of people read and take to heart! If I may add a couple of extra notes; 1) If you have an idea for a character, but you don't have any sort of reference sheet, I implore you to commission a clear, standing reference FIRST before jumping into a big dynamic one-off piece. It may seem more exciting, but it's extremely hard on the artist to draw a dynamic pose and style for a character that hasn't been designed at all - AND not to mention designing a character is a whole task and set of skills on its own!

If I'm approached with a job like this, I charge extra for the work I will have to put into designing the character that is being put in the drawing, on top of the drawing itself. Please do yourself and your artist (and future artists!) a favour and get the reference sheet first. Not only will the design itself likely turn out better, but drawings with a proper reference will also turn out better!

2) If you approach an artist with a commission, please be upfront about all the necessary information. It can be somewhat frustrating when someone messages saying "I want a commission" with nothing else, no reference or description or anything. Explain briefly what you're looking for, and include any important references (or tell me upfront you don't have a reference) - that way I know immediately how big the job is and also how much to charge, otherwise I'll just have to ask you for that information anyways. Try to make the process smoother for us artists <3

3) I also really want to reiterate that commissioners learn what is useful and not useful information in regards to a commission. I personally like to know a little about a character, particularly their personality and maybe some key points about them, because I love to incorporate that into a design or piece! If they're confident, they're going to hold themself differently to someone who is shy - if they're an artist, maybe they have paint splotches on their clothing. Concise character traits are ideal.

What I don't need is a small novel explaining their backstory, and even more so it doesn't help me if all this information is randomly scattered across paragraphs of text. I have and will charge people more when they approach me like this - and that might seem harsh, but it's because I have to spend more time and effort, more WORK, to scan through and find what is relevant and organise the information myself into something I can use, as well as identifying what information is missing. If you really want to include lots of backstory, please at least organise the information so I can immediately find a physical description without making me work for it.

One of the best commissioners I've ever had put all of the information and visual references clearly laid out in a single google doc. You wouldn't believe how much time this saves me.

4) Last note. If you are commissioning someone to design a character, using images of other characters or people as reference is perfect! But please, please explain what each image is for, and any information that isn't conveyed by the images. If you have a photo of a person and you like their body type specifically, then say that specifically. If you like the clothes of a character, but not the colours, be sure to say so. I had a situation once before where someone gave me 4 references of white women and said "please make her look like this" and I did exactly as asked - but when I was finished, they asked me to change it: "The character should have a dark skin tone". I can't know these things if you don't tell me! If you communicate clearly what you want, you're more likely to get what you want :)

I hope none of this comes off as too complain-y, but rather as honest advice - artists WILL like working with you a lot more if you make their lives easier, and you'll get better pieces of art back, and faster too! Thanks~

A few tips everybody should consider. I’ve experienced all those and some more. I’m not good at english but I hope you get it. Go and support some artists out there and let them draw you nice shit. Not as nice as FairyNekoDesu but still will be cool so give them a chance and you’ll be surprised.

[merimutt]

Happy Valentine's day 💖

I doodled valentines cards with some of my blorbos for funsies :]

[merimutt]

First commission of 2023~

My friend's toontown character :] I did a sepia version too just for funsies because I thought they looked very dapper!

[merimutt]

Say hello to my chatty little baker~

He loves old romance manga and pop music and giving away left over pastries at the end of the day 💕

(originally designed by Murky_Meows @ TH)

[merimutt]

(fluttering my eyelashes) hi~ did you know I like star trek? because I like star trek. like a normal amount. so please allow me to infodump for a minute:

this is my half-vulcan oc Spock Izvak! he's a lieutenant commander on a research vessel, and he is the most repressed person in space :)

I had sooooo much fun learning about vulcan language while I was developing them. for a start, their name is a portmanteau of izh - meaning "snow" - and svai - meaning "flower" or "bloom" - with the common vulcan name suffix of k and of course that traditional 5 letter structure. so his name basically means snow flower!

I also learned the vulcan word for "albino" is fam-kursu - but I also feel as though vulcans would have a more derogatory term for it, because they are mean, petty bitches. alachya or "white hair" is what I chose, and it is what Izvak is often addressed as by rudeass vulcans.

I applied the same kind of logic as his given name to the name I gave to his little hair ornament too. I always think about T'Pring's look in her TOS appearance and I really love how her hair looks, so I wanted to bring some of that feeling to Izvak. the only thing is, despite trekkie dedication to detailing fandom minutia, I couldn't find any information at all canon or otherwise about the thing she wears in her hair. I guess realistically it's just a meaningless accessory but I feel like it should at least have a vulcan name! so I took it upon myself to make one up: isachvayek. another portmanteau, this time of isachya - "hair" - and gluvayek - "display". as in, "hair that displays status". there's no indication that it originally displayed a social status when T'Pring wore it but to me it is shiny, pretty, ornate... and it's being worn at an important ceremony. not to mention how intricate and complex her actual hair is! these things to me imply some significance. I'm making a thing out of it.

I could go on and on about Izvak and my vulcan headcanons but I'll leave it here for now! I would love to hear what other trekkies think!

[merimutt]

(disguises mlp content by posting my pony oc as a human)

hi I hope you like my normal human Earnest he is the dad of all time :) he likes roller skating, disco, and his husband and kids (if you bring up his kids he will insist on showing you baby photos)

[merimutt]

I haven't posted any ponies yet, so here are some Rainbow Power designs that I'm still proud of 💖 I love how over the top colourful Rainbow Power is!!

[merimutt]

today I offer you: neopets oc tomorrow I offer you: probably another neopets oc

[merimutt]

Oh yea it’s all coming together

[merimutt]

SUNRIZE X STRYDER, COMMANDER OF THE BANZAI FIGHTERZ!! HERE TO FIGHT FOR JUSTICE, FUN AND FREEDOM~ ✰ I hope you all enjoy my idiot anime son he's inspired by the retrowave ixi design on moderneo! I love this fan colour so much it rocks 💖

[merimutt]

another neopets character! playing moderneo has really got me back into my love for neopets

also I love mean women <3

[merimutt]

hey who likes neopets look at my boy my son my shining light LOOK

[merimutt]

Gerard Way - art vs inspiration 🐀🐀🐀🐀

[merimutt]

Dancing with the stars ✨

(arfight for Nidrew !)

[merimutt]

sometimes we're a little sillay around here

(artfight for my buddy collabwithmyself !)

[merimutt]

I love drawing characters with this expression 🌈✨

(artfight for spookierdeer !)